JERSEY CITY — A dead whale that surfaced in the Hudson River earlier this week just off Caven Point in Jersey City will be towed out to sea for disposal, the Army Corps of Engineers said. The carcass, which the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said is a “30-foot long fin whale,” was too big for a… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — The state Division of Taxation has declared two of the three municipalities forced to undergo property revaluations in violation of that state order, NJ Advance Media has learned. Jersey City and Elizabeth have missed May deadlines to submit plans to comply with the April order that gives them until November 2017 to conduct revaluations,… Read the rest of this entry »

Freehold Borough Councilman Kevin Kane has landed a $65,000 per year job as the assistant director of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s Office of Tax Abatement and Compliance.

The five term Democrat councilman who ran for Monmouth County Clerk last year against Christine Giordano Hanlon is responsible for the day to day operations of the office when the director is not at work, according to his Linkedin profile. The office is charged with ensuring “adherence with all municipal ordinances, administrative codes and state statutes relating to tax abated development projects in Jersey City. The Compliance Office, reporting directly to the Business Administrator, is responsible for documenting all non-compliance issues and violations of the Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and Project Employment and Contracting Agreements (PECAs).” Kane recommends to the director any and all actions to be taken as a result of non-compliance in a specified project.

Prior to joining the Fulop administration, Kane was the Vice President of Operations for a Freehold based janitorial company owned by his parents.

In the weeks since Donald Trump ignited a firestorm by claiming “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in Jersey City cheered the fall of the twin towers on 9/11, elected officials, religious leaders and a former state attorney general denied the existence of celebrations in the city that day. Media outlets, after scouring archived news stories and… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — Three New Jersey municipalities in Union, Hudson and Middlesex counties are under investigation by the state for stalling property reassessments for decades and could be forced to conduct revaluations. The investigation of Jersey City, Elizabeth and Dunellen is a shot across the bow to municipalities in the three counties the state says have neglected… Read the rest of this entry »

A 52-year-old woman with a permit to carry a handgun in Florida could face up to 10 years in prison after being arrested in Jersey City while attempting to board a ferry to Ellis Island while carrying a gun, authorities said. Elizabeth J. Griffith, of Daytona Beach, was arrested by U.S. Park Police on July 14… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — Federal prosecutors have issued a new subpoena to the Port Authority seeking records related to claims that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration retaliated against Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The subpoenas call for records from a number of former officials at the agency regarding interactions with… Read the rest of this entry »

Jersey City Police Chief Robert Cowan has responded to his announced demotion by Mayor Steve Fulop by alleging that the mayor order traffic jams at Port Jersey and the Holland Tunnel. That Cowan objected and interfered is the reason he is being demoted, he says, according to reports in the Jersey Journal.

Fulop announced plans to sue the Port Authority of NY/NJ for $400 million. Cowan’s attorney said Fulop’s plan was “designed solely to create havoc for the Port Authority.”

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) wants the joint legislative committee that is investigating the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures to investigate the allegations against Fulop as well.

In a letter dated today to Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, Co-Chairs of the New Jersey Select Committee on Investigation,of which Handlin is a member, the assemblywoman asked that the committee immediately issue subpoenas to Fulop and Cowan

As you know, the mission of the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation is to “investigate all aspects of the finances, operations, and management of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and any other matter raising concerns about abuse of government power or an attempt to conceal an abuse of government power including, but not limited to, the reassignment of access lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge.”

Because the allegations against Mayor Fulop raise significant concerns about the repeated abuse of government power directly related to the Port Authority, I respectfully ask the committee to investigate this matter including the immediate issuance of subpoenas to Mayor Fulop and Chief Cowan.

The northbound lanes of the Pulaski Skyway are closed for two years as the bridge is reconstructed. The anticipated nightmare for commuters starts this morning.

file photo by Art Gallaghernightmare for commuters starts today.

Seastreak, LLC, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation have partnered to provide a pleasant alternative for Central Jersey commuters to get to Hoboken or Jersey City and home again daily.

Seastreak has two morning departures, 5:45 and 7:45, from the Atlantic Highlands Marina with stops at Paulus Hook in Jersey City and Hoboken. There are three returning departures originating in Hoboken at 3:15 pm, 5:15 pm and 7:15 PM. The fare for a one-way trip to or from either Hudson County terminal and Atlantic Highlands is $12. $5 gets you a ride to or from Jersey City and Hoboken.

The subsidized fare is a bargain. Seastreak’s one-way fare to Manhattan is $26. The fare for a trip on a NJTransit train from Middletown to Hoboken is $14.25, and the train takes longer.

Former Governor Jim McGreevey is back in government service, according to a report in The Jersey Journal.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop appointed McGreevey to the position of Executive Director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Commission. The commission is apparently a new venture of Fulop’s who made job creation and the establishment of a re-entry program for ex-offenders a major plank of his recent election campaign. There is no information about the commission on the city’s website.

Fulop’s spokesperson, Jennifer Morrill, did not know what McGreevey’s salary will be when we asked her. She promised to get back to us with that information and whether or not the job is pensionable.

UPDATED: Morrill said that McGreevey’s salary is $110,000. The commission is an independent authority, which is why there is no information about it on Jersey City’s website.